Nobody Williams
by Akakabuto
Summary: He's just a nobody that happens to find something he hasn't seen in a long time- people. OC
1. Chapter 1

**A/N- This is my first fanfiction ever, and I would love some reviews or suggestions! Please point out any mistakes you might find, and thanks for taking the time to read this!**

Exploding gunfire and unearthly screams echoed in my head as my feet pounded the pavements, sniper clutched to my chest as my eyes laid on the most amazing thing I had ever seen.

People.

There were people, amongst the horde of gray, bleeding, mindless bodies, struggling to reach, their yellow teeth begging for just a taste.

The fought valiantly, spraying through the infected individuals with deft blasts from their automatics.

My rifle suddenly seem insignificant in comparison.

"Fire in the hole!" Someone called, and a beeping object was tossed away, bouncing a few times on the pavement.

I could only watch as the red, flashing light was quickly swallowed by most of the creatures, angrily shouting and clawing at it, pushing each other out of the way to get a better look.

By the time I clued in as to what this was, it was too late, and the rapid beeping ceased all together, the object detonating not seven feet from me, causing me to fall back.

Infected pieces rained down on me as I cracked my head against the tarmac. A severed arm, hand curled in a fist, landed with a thud on my chest.

I glanced at the shiny wrist watch tied around the arm's pale wrist, but couldn't will my arms to take it. They seemed to have a mind of their own, ignoring my commands and simply lying at my sides, aching.

I heard the scream of an iron door somewhere. A safe room door. One that had been advertised everywhere.

The people hadn't noticed me. They had left.

Sit up. Sit up. Sit up. There are more of those things, sit up! You lazy fucker, get off your ass and _get up!_

After a long argument with myself, the sky turning hazy as I did, I managed to sit up, my entire body sore.

With a grunt, I pulled the cracked watch off the arm and shoved it into my pocket, struggling to my feet and groping for my rifle.

I took in my surroundings quickly before heading to the first thing I saw- the red door.

I neared it cautiously, wondering if the people were still even there.

I didn't like people, but I wasn't stupid. I knew I couldn't survive this thing on my own. And I sure as hell didn't like dying a lot more than I didn't like people.

I peered in through the bars of the safe room, and was greeted by a gun barrel pressed against my forehead, a face coming through from the darkness.

Her hair was cropped short against her skull, dark brown, like mine. She had a narrow face and sharp blue eyes.

For a minute, I was sure she would shoot me.

But then I noticed the gun was trembling against my skin.

I could only try to smile but fail, one brow slightly raised.

"I'm human, if you can believe me." I murmured.

"W-W-We can't trust anyone." She told me. God, she had to be only twenty.

"Oh come on. Really?" I groaned.

"You could be infected- you just haven't turned yet. We don't know for sure." I sighed wearily. I finally found people, and they still thought I was a monster.

"Look here, little lady." I cooed to her, pulling down the collar of my shirt. She gaped at the healing wound, which I had received a little over a week ago. "This is a bite. I'm uh, one of those immunes. I got this about a week ago, and I'm still standing. Now, could you let me in, sweetheart? Please?" I softened my voice, trying to charm her, showing my teeth in a miserable smile.

It was beginning to work, her eyes starting to widen, her hands starting to relax.

Then a big man shuffled her out of the way.

I sighed, straightened, having to look up to look this man in the eye, instead of down to see the girl.

He was sweating profusely, his shirt tight around his large mid section, and his tiny teeth were grit in a grimace.

"Now, Jennifer, I told ya. We can't be sure anyone's immune `cept fer us."

"You don't know that." I heard the girl whimper.

"There were four of you. I saw four. Where are the other two?" I wondered.

"Now, you aren't in the position to be asking the questions, now are you?" He wondered. The grip on my rifle tightened. "Maybe you should just stay out there. How do we know how old that bite is? It could be recent."

"Oh, for fuck's sakes!" I snarled, bashing the butt of my gun against the bars. "This is fucking ridiculous! I'm a_ fucking human being_. Let me in!" I was going against what I had learned in these past few days- don't lose your cool, don't associate with others, and hell, do _not_ make noise.

Now I was shouting, my face red, beyond anger at the stupidity of these people.

"Just let him in." The girl, Jennifer, pleaded.

"Look at him- he's half mad already." The big man pointed out. I sighed and finally forced myself to relax, leaning my back against the red doors.

"You know what? Fine. Shoot me. Put me out of my misery. Because if you won't let me in, I'll run out of bullets eventually." I took a few steps out in front, my feet squelching in intestines and fingers. I turned around, making sure they couldn't just shoot me in the back. "Come on, big man. I'm not afraid. Just do it. No point for me now."

"Don't you dare, Harry!" Jennifer shouted. To my surprise, the man actually did have his gun cocked in my direction. I thought I knew people. Especially scared people. But this guy was different. I suppose it made sense.

For a moment, the gun and the man disappear into the shadows again, and I could hear strained whispers as people argued.

"He's Ihuman/I." Someone insisted. There was quiet.

I leaned against the wall again for what seemed like forever.

"Tell you what." This 'Harry' person came to the door again. "You sleep out here for the night, keep watch, and if you're still… you, in the morning, we'll let you in."

"You're gonna make me sleep out here?" I snapped, aghast. "Well, christ, I'll be me in the morning- five fucking different pieces of me, in the bellies of these goddamn zombies!" But I knew it was my best bet and growled, reaching for a milk crate to sit and cradle my gun on, knowing this was going to be a long night.

Why couldn't they believe me?

I was listening to their conversations for the rest of the night. They spoke to me through the door.

The big man was Harold, a school teacher. How he survived this long, I wasn't quite sure. The girl, Jennifer, was living with her parents and twin brother, Joey, who had lived in New York their whole lives. The other woman, Danielle, was injured and only spoke in breathy whispers.

"What about you? Don't you have a name?" Jennifer wondered as the stars were blinking above me, safe from this madness.

"No. I don't." I told her softly.

"Everyone has a name." Joey objected, his voice unusually high for a man.

"Well, I guess I'm nobody." I grumbled.

"Alright, Nobody. You cold out there? Want a blanket, or something? We've got some to share." There was a pause before I answered Joey.

"No. I don't want a blanket." I mumbled.

"Ok. So, Nobody, what did you do before this?" He wondered.

"Before this? Heh, nothing. I was always in the killing people business." I murmured. There was a shocked silence behind the door. I grimaced. "Just kidding, geez. No one knows how to joke over there?" Nervous titters followed my explanation, but I was sure they were still suspicious.

"Harry's gone to bed. I'm sure you could come in." Jennifer whispered.

"Yeah?" I squinted out at the horizon, sure I could see movement.

"Mhm." I wet my lips.

"Nah, I'll stay out here." I shrugged. "Wouldn't want to let a monster into your house, hm?"

"Come on, man." Joey chided. "We know you aren't a zombie or anything. Come in." However, neither party moved. I snorted.

"You guys are afraid."

"Are not!" Joey and Jennifer objected.

"You kids should get to bed. You'll need rest." I told them.

"We're not kids.." I heard Joey grumble, and they whispered softly between themselves.

I rested against the wall of the safe house. It was some sort of café or something. Thinking of it, I straightened.

"You guys got any food?" There was no answer, and for a couple seconds, I realized just how hungry I was. Then, a pale arm wriggled through the steel, a protein bar clutched in its wiry fingers.

"Thanks." I slowly eased the wrapped from the slim digits and they were quickly yanked back inside. So they were afraid of me.

I chewed on the corner for a minute, then quickly shoved it down, starving. I didn't realize how much I loved food until I didn't have it anymore.

"So, Nobody…" Jennifer addressed me slowly. "How old are you?"

"How old are you?" I countered back.

"Nineteen." I was close. Usually I was spot on.

"You guys born in the winter?" I wondered.

"How did you know that?"

"Lucky guess." I shrugged.

"So, how old are you?" My lips turned up in an involuntary smile, and I pulled out a cigarette from my pocket, slowly lighting it.

"I'm Nobody, right? Nobody doesn't have an age."

"Come on, Bod." Whoa, they had a nickname for me already? I writhed in disgust at that one, taking a deep dreg of my cigarettes. "Just tell us something about you." I thought on this one.

"Hm. I like cats." I mumbled. There was a sigh. "I had a cat before this shit started. Named him Tommy. I woke up to him scratching this zombie's face off." I sniffed, puffing smoke in amusing rings. "Haven't stopped running since." There was quiet.

"You left your cat?" Jennifer wondered slowly.

"Yup."

"Did you have a wife?" I scoffed.

"Who would marry a nobody?" I wondered. Another disappointed silence. "Now, I'm serious. I'm trying to make sure no zombies come `round, and I don't need you lot distracting me. Please." I grumbled. There was ruffling inside the door and then silence as I assumed the twins finally went to sleep.

Used to staying up nights on end, the lack of sleep didn't bother me.

It was really the unnerving sound of the living dead, shuffling around. As soon as they would catch whiff of me, living flesh, their cries were inhuman as they raced towards me, long nails outstretched, tongue flopping uselessly out of their mouth. Blood constantly dripped down their gray skin.

It had all started about a month ago. A study showed it was a mutated version of Mad Cow disease.

So, basically, some guy ate a rotten burger and doomed us all.

He ate the burger, maybe bit his wife. She went and bit her book talk ladies. They all went and bit their husbands and kids. They all… well, you get the idea.

It spread quick. A simple scratch, shared drink or even kiss from an infected could infect you, as well.

Unless you were like me.

Unless you were immune.

I hadn't realized I had fallen asleep until I awoke to growling.

I whipped my gun up to my face and scanned the horizon.

I stand corrected, it wasn't even growling. Not the normal type that all the infected gave, but a sort of high pitched buzzing, like a large mosquito.

Stay calm. Stay clam. Find it.

The whine got louder. It was coming closer!

A flash of black tossed me off the milk crate, my gun flying from my hands.

I let out a squeak as I slammed against the ground again, pain spider-webbing from my tailbone out through my body.

I jumped to my feet, searching for my gun, but I realized it was gone. It wasn't even lying a few feet away from impact.

Then I realized the thing hadn't injured me.

"Bastard! Bastard stole my gun!" I screamed into the night. The bodies behind the wall began to awake, all trying to talk at the same time.

I wasn't in the mood to listen, charging after the whining noise.

"You, shit head!" I screamed at the small black figure. It hesitated, turning to me.

It was definitely a zombie, with the tell-tale gray skin and glowing eyes. But it was different than the others. It was tiny, hunched, about as big as a five year old child. It had unnaturally long fingers which clutched my gun to it's chest like a baby. The whining noise it created did not seem to come from its mouth, but its whole body, trembling and buzzing.

"Yeah, you! Gimme my gun back, now!" I thundered. It looked like a deer caught in the headlights, frozen, glowing eyes affixed on me. "Yeah, you better damn well be scared, little shit! I could snap your neck! Actually, I will!" I reached in to my back pocket and pulled out my trusty magnum, aiming carefully, only a few feet away from the thing now. "What, what's with the look? Aren't you gonna attack?" I snapped.

It dropped my gun and disappeared.

"Damn." I stooped down and snatched up my rifle, giving it a quick once over and snorting. "You better run, punk ass mother-" I suddenly realized it wasn't me that had scared the tiny zombie, but the big zombie behind me.

I flew through the air and landed on the ground, the air rushing out of me.

To my relief, I heard gun shots before I was attacked again, and managed to struggle to my feet with the aid of someone's hand on my arm.

Jennifer helped me up, looking worried.

"Are you alright?" She whimpered.

"Yeah, fine." I cracked my neck with a grunt. "What the hell was that?" I wondered, walking over to the large beast.

I realized it had incredibly large feet and legs, which was what it had used to catapult me metres away. The rest of it's body was surprisingly human. I snorted. It looked like the stupidest thing I had ever seen.

"Whadda we call these ones?" Joey wondered softly to his sister, who was nudging one of the giant legs with her toe.

"Hm. The one that stole Nobody's gun, call him a Mugger." Original. "This one…"

"David?" I offered. They both sent me strange looks. "Like… like David Beckham, `cause… `cause he kicks… like soccer…" I trailed off, knowing they wouldn't understand.

"Kicker. He kicks." Joey explained dully. "Ok, he stomps and makes the floor shake, but he's quiet other than that." To my surprise, Jennifer had a notebook in her hand, writing this down as we walked back to the safe house. "So we have to remember to be careful and listen. Obviously, he'll separate one of us in a horde with a kick." Jennifer nodded as she rapidly wrote.

"And the Mugger?" She wondered.

"He made that whining noise, like a bug. And it looks like he doesn't fight, huh, Nobody? He just likes to steal stuff, I bet. Or maybe he's bait! Maybe…" Joey trailed off, realizing the same thing I was.

Maybe these zombies were smarter than we thought.

"Maybe… he's made to get one of us to run off on our own, trying to get our gun back. He leads us to some bigger infected, and…" Joey swallowed, shaking his head. "Not to mention disarming us." Jennifer was still writing before she snapped the book shut, opening the safe room door back up, this time encouraging me to enter.

"Come on, Nobody. It's not safe out there." She murmured.

"Ya think?" I quipped, happily accepting the blanket they offered and curling up to sleep without another word.


	2. Chapter 2

Bright sunlight woke me up.

I miserably pulled the blanket over my face.

"I swear, Annie, you try that bullshit again.."

"Annie? Who's Annie?" That voice was unfamiliar. Carefully, I lowered the blanket, peering up through the fresh rays of the sun.

Jennifer stood over me, hands on her hips.

For the first time, I looked at her whole body, instead of just a head in the darkness or a blurry form through my pain.

She wasn't small in height, but was thin and pale, lips pulled tight in a grimace, bright eyes squinted slightly.

To my surprise, I realized her hair wasn't cropped short, just hidden somewhere last night, because now it flowed around her shoulders, a waterfall of thick, chestnut locks.

As I noticed this, she pulled it back and slipped it into a tight bun.

"Come on, Nobody. Time to get up, we're moving out." She encouraged with a light nudge from her tennis shoe before walking away, deeper into the café where voices were.

I got to my feet and groaned, following her, rubbing my eyes and realizing just how fucking much my head hurt.

"Don't get mad at me, he almost got killed by a Kicker last night." Jennifer was defending herself.

"Jen, come on, he could- Killed by a /what/?" Harry demanded.

"A Kicker." Jen passed him her notebook.

"A Kicker and a Mugger?" He mused, forgetting about me to gaze through Jen's notes.

I was able to greet Danielle properly. She had dark skin and plump lips with a gorgeous smile, despite the fact that her injuries must have been causing her a lot of pain.

"So, 'Nobody'.." Danielle teased. "Is that really what we're calling you?"

"Yup." I nodded. "No need to get too friendly with each other, right?" There was a pause as Harry questioned something about the new infected and the regular ones screamed outside the safe door, pounding to get in.

"Hold on." I clued in to something. "Are you telling me that there are more things like those ones we saw last night?" I wondered, amazed.

"Yeah, there are a few." Joey nodded, nibbling on a packet of chips and sharing them with Danielle. "Well, six now, with the Kicker and the Mugger. Apparently, there are a whole bunch down south, too, but…" He shrugged. "So long as they don't come up here, right?"

"Down south? Like what?"

"Apparently.." Danielle began, her quiet voice startling me. "There's one with a big tongue that can drag you a hundred feet then claw your eyes out." She shuddered softly.

"And one that jumps on you from a mile away and tears you apart." Joey demonstrated by forming claws with his fingers and swiping at the air.

"Or this big one." Jen piped up. "He's like a pink gorilla on steroids, and he just destroys everything in his path."

"Ho-lee-shit." I was aware at how wide my eyes were by now, feigning shock. "This is some fucked up shit right here." They all nodded in agreement. "Ok, you said there were six now. What are the four others?"

Harry deftly handed me Jen's worn notebook. I took it slowly and flipped through it, searching through to the correct pages.

The first one was called a Screamer. Jen also appeared to be an artist, for she had sketched a well-detailed picture under the name

It looked like a very lanky man, with surprisingly posh clothing. A nice suit and jacket, dressy pants. However, his neck was long and had giant folds of skin. A note beside the folds explained they were actually extra lungs that expanded and filled with air to help the scream.

The other notes read that the Screamer was more of a terrified four year old, screaming at everything that spooked it. If too close when the Screamer screams, you could be temporarily deafened and even permanently if you don't run away to recover. His scream will attract a horde, so it's best to kill him quickly and quietly. Shoot the lungs to kill the fastest.

The second was a ferret-looking sort of thing, only instead of fur it had human skin and excess clothing. Its neck was long as well, and had a narrow, flat head, much like a snake. Its arms and legs were so short than it merely had hands and feet attached to its long body. I had never seen something like it. It was called a Squeezer.

Another detailed doodle of its mouth was shown, illustrating its sharp fangs that were apparently hollow. A note described that it could break its jaw in order to swallow a person whole.

It slid quickly on the ground, however, was not nearly as fast as normal infected. It was quiet, though, except for occasional hisses. If it caught you, it wrapped its hands around your throat and its body around yours, tightening until you ran out of air or all your bones broke.

The next one was tiny, like the Mugger had been, but had giant hands and feet. The notes explained this was a Stinger. Their fingers, instead of being spread like ours, were grouped together to form a sharp point. They used their large feet to push off the ground and jumped high. They attack quickly, darting in and out, jabbing and stabbing.

The last one was a simple scribble of the pencil, like someone had lied it flat and just smeared the graphite across the page, making the shape of a large figure.

Lurker.

The note was simple.

We've never seen a Lurker in the day, and it always keeps out of sight. We know it's none of the others, because always stays far away and just makes this huffing noise as us. It tends to only come out on cold night. We think it has fur. None of us has actually been attacked by a Lurker yet, so we're unsure as to what it is. When it comes out, maybe it'll get a better name.

I handed the notebook back to Jen, who stuffed it in her breast pocket of her jacket, beginning to button it up.

"So you've seen all those before?"

"Well, obviously, except for the Lurker." Jen nodded. "A Stinger got Danielle while we were getting here." She explained, gesturing to the stab wounds covered Danielle's midsection.

"Can't wait to see them." I muttered sarcastically.

"Well, you'll get to soon enough." Harry muttered, folding up his map and packing it in a back. "Come on, you lot. Danny, how are you?"

"I'm good." Danielle admitted, getting slowly to her feet, gingerly rubbing her front.

"Here." I remembered that white bottle I had picked up in a bathroom recently, unscrewing the cap and giving her a couple pills.

"Oh, thanks." Danielle looked surprised, but swallowed the pills dry.

"Ok, let's go, then." The kids all followed Harry's suit, grabbing their bags and checking their ammunition, Joey hefting a fire axe, testing its weight.

"Wait, where are we going?" I wondered, feeling lost in this obvious well-known routine.

"Farther north." Jen explained patiently. "There's supposed to be a refuge for all the survivors." The others nodded slowly.

"Come on!" Joey thrust the door open. The roar of infected greeted our ears as they charged forward. Joey took expert swings with his awe, beheading the first three.

We followed close behind, myself maintaining a mental note to stick close to Danielle as we ran.

We covered ground quickly as a group, I noticed. On my own, I was constantly having to watch every side. Now, I had four people to help me with that.

Suddenly, I felt the earth under me begin to tremble.

"Uh…" My voice was lost to me as I covered our behind. Joey perked up.

"KICKER!" He screamed, firing shot past my ear before I could even bring up a shout of my own.

The big-legged freak was on us faster than I could imagine, Joey's shots seeming to bounce harmlessly off it's massive thighs.

I hadn't remember even raising my gun, much less firing it, but I had indeed scoped out the beast's head and fired.

It collapsed, only a foot from me.

"Come on, man. Get with it." Joey encouraged. "You gotta call it out." I nodded.

"Ok. Ok." This would take getting used to.

As we walked and sun began to set, my bones were aching and clouds started to release soft flakes.

"No way, snow? Really?" I moaned, shaking my head.

"Snow's good. The zombies don't like snow." Jen explained, welcoming the snow with a shocking smile.

"They don't?" I glanced around, noticing that it seemed to be true. The zombies were beginning to retreat, snarling and hissing like cats, even letting us walk by without a single shot fired.

We took shelter in another safe room, breath misting in the air as we all shivered miserably, offering the little food and warmth we had to each other.

Jen and Joey curled up in a corner after eating, a handful of arms and legs as they wrapped around each other for warmth. This room was void of anything useful, including food or blankets. Thankfully, there was a package of water that was nearly frozen, stuffed deep in the corner of the basic room.

Harry, his enormous fat reserves obviously giving him enough warmth on his own, was reloading his shotgun meticulously, I think just to give him something to do.

Danielle was shivering, her wounds nearly healing by now.

I crawled over to her, not one for contact, but too worried about freezing my balls off to care.

"Hey." I greeted her softly.

"Hey." Her lips pulled back to reveal her smile again. "You ok? Look cold." I nodded, chewing on my lip to stop my teeth from chattering. "Me too. I hate the north." She admitted.

"What're you doing up here, then?" I wondered, slinging my arm around her shoulder to bring her a little closer. No, I wasn't putting the moves on her. Just goddamn freezing! She understood and didn't resist, resting against my chest.

"Ah… well, I was actually taking a flight to Hawaii.." She started slowly. "But got stuck in New York, somehow.. I don't really know. Must have been on account of the pilots turning into zombies, or something." She shrugged with a sigh. I grinned. "Don't smile- there's nothing funny about this!" She told me.

"Yeah, you're right." I didn't stop smiling.

"Stop it, I'm serious, Bod. It's wrong." She called me Bod. It made me smile harder. "What is wrong with you? Are you a masochist, or something? Some sick guy that gets off on other people's suffering?"

"No." I shook my head. "It's like Tourettes, I just smile when I'm freaked out or sad and stuff." I explained, trying to stop it.

"Oh, sorry." Danielle rolled her eyes. "I mean, just, normally people cry and get angry and stuff, not /smile/."

"So I'm told." I groaned and leaned against her, glad for warmth. "So, Danny… what was in Hawaii?"

"Nothing, really. Just a nice vacation."

"How old are you?"

"Abrupt, aren't you, /Nobody/?" She asked, brow cocked. I had to smirk. "You expect a lot for a person who gives nothing."

"Alright. Tell me some things about you, and.. I dunno, maybe I'll tell you my age." There was a pause as Harry's bullet counting finally stopped and he curled up to sleep.

"I'm twenty-nine." She told me. So I had guessed. "I live in Florida, well lived, with my fiancée." She hesitated there, sniffing miserably. I 'tsk'ed at myself.

"Sorry."

"No, it's ok. He… he was on the plane with me, and we ended up getting separated." Danielle explained that a group of soldier had taken her one way, and her fiancée, Erik, the other, both saying they were going in the right direction.

"Eventually, my soldiers started getting sick. I stole one of the dead one's guns before the others could turn, and, well, ran." She shrugged, sighing. "I found Joey and Jen a little while later, then Harry after that. We've been together since." Her little shoulders went up and down.

"How do you know how to shoot a gun?" I wondered.

"Oh… you know. My dad was a big hunter guy." I could see her smile dreamily.

"Do.. You ever worry about Erik?" I wondered. She shifted nervously under my arm, getting comfortable.

"Sometimes. Sometimes I think that maybe he's-" She stopped short, jerking her head up to listen for a second. I was quiet, too, focused on the safe room door as a huffing noise was just outside.

The moonlight shining in was blocked suddenly, by a large, dark figure as it shuffled past, snuffling and breathing deeply. Danielle and I both held out breath as it slid slowly by.

"Those things.. Are so creepy." Danielle shuddered once we were sure it was gone.

"Well, they are zombies-"

"No, I mean Lurkers, specifically." She whispered, clinging nervously to my shirt. She smelt like sweat and unwashed hair. Although, most of us did.

"Why Lurkers specifically?" I wondered.

"I mean.. they never attack. They just sit there, smelling us… /tasting/ us." She whimpered. "And if I'm close to one, it's like I can /feel/ it, like, /in/ me, you know?" She wondered.

"No. That was the first time I've ever seen one." I told her.

"Oh… well… they are scary." She nodded slowly.

"Yeah. Pretty scary." I agreed softly. To my surprise, our mild encounter with the Lurker had made Danielle forget about our previous deal and instead asked to curl up with me, her back against mine. I agreed, and fell asleep with a warm behind.


	3. Chapter 3

I awoke to gunshots.

"Take that, ya bastards!" Joey called defensively through the bars. "Try it again, huh! Try it again!"

"Jo, come on." Harry grumbled.

"Sorry, Harry." Joey blushed and dropped the shot gun back on to the table. "Those things just piss me off."

"Well, I certainly don't wanna dance with one, but it doesn't mean you wake us up so early."

"Aw, look at Danny… look like she found a friend in Nobody!" Jen purred. Joey merely grunted, and I got the feeling he had eyes on Danielle. I sat up and yawned, stretching."Morning, Bod." Jen chimed as she stirred a pot of hot soup over a fire. My lips involuntarily smacked and she laughed. "Hungry?"

"Starved." I grumbled.

"Well, it's almost done. Wake Danny up, will you?" She asked.

"Danielle, wakey-wakey." I encouraged, shaking her gently. She blinked awake and used the floor to help her to sit up, shaking her head to clear the last tendrils of sleep

"Mhm." She groaned, then sniffed happily. "Soup?"

"Yup. Nice and hot." Jen was filling up chipped bowl with the stuff, handing it out to us. We slurped quietly, too intent on burning our tongues and throats for the long road ahead.

"So, er, where is this 'permanent safe house'?" I wondered.

"Canada." Joey explained through excited sips of his soup. "Somewhere near Toronto."

"Oh, so not so far."

"Nope. If only we had a car." Joey grumbled.

"There are tons of cars around." I observed, glancing at the bright red door like I could see through it to the snow-covered road, fill with zombies and abandoned vehicles.

"Yeah, but most of `em or smashed or empty or no keys."

"No keys?" I shrugged, finishing my soup. "I could do that."

"Let me guess, you know how to hot wire a car?" Harry droned. I gave him only a knowing wink and he sighed. "Alright, then. New objection for today- find a car that's full of gas, can fit us all, and isn't damaged so Nobody can wire it." They all nodded cheerfully.

"I can't wait to stop walking." Jen groaned. "Maybe the zombies will leave us alone, then?"

"I doubt it." Harry grumbled as we piled our things back into the bags and set back out.

"How about this one?" Danielle called after we had been searching through salvageable cars. I gave it a quick once over. It could fit us all comfortably, seemed in good condition and full of gas. I bent over and went to work wiring purred to life when two wires met and sparked. Everyone tossed their things inside and we piled in. I pressed the pedal to the floor and the car grumbled on the snow, but moved ahead quite well."Ah, heater!" Danielle, sitting in the passenger seat, reached out and turned on the red dial. Hot air began to blow in to the car and everyone relaxed.

"Alright, so where am I driving?" I wondered.

"We told you, Toronto!"

"Great, now can I have some goddamn directions?" I snapped.

"Just keep going straight until you hit a fork in the road." Harry told me.

"Alright." I obeyed, as Joey and Jen suddenly began to chatter cheerfully, bringing up random stories and amusing thoughts.

"Maybe the Canadians are /all/ immune? Ya know? Who knows! I mean, they live in all the cold and stuff!" Jen shrugged."Remember that time when that Canadian baseball team came down to our tournament?" Joey reminisced.

"Yeah, totally! They were so funny! And that one girl said 'eh'!" They both started giggling uncontrollably. Danielle smiled, and even Hard Harry had to crack a grin as they flopped on top of each other, laughing.

"Danielle, Harry, Bod, have you guys ever been to Canada?" Jen asked.

"Once, yeah." Harry nodded. Danielle and I both shook our heads.

"Is it cold, Harry?"

"Eh. Not too cold. A lot like New York." Harry explained.

"Doesn't sound so bad." Joey grinned. "Maybe it'll be nice! No zombies, pretty girls… Man, Canada's gonna be awesome!"

"Slow down, cowboy." Harry kidded.

"Yeah, what if we get eaten by polar bears?" Jen chewed on her nails nervously.

"Look here, there aren't any polar bears in Canada, alright? Not where we're going." He assured her, encouraging her to take a gun in her hands and press it against the window. "Now, `nough talking. You need to keep a look out."A silence settled over the car. A silence I was used to- a silence I enjoyed. As I glanced in the mirror, I found that Joey had fallen asleep on Harry's shoulder, and Jen's eyes were droopy dangerously low, her forehead resting on the barrel of her gun.

"They're so young, huh?" Danielle murmured next to me. I put my eyes back to the road with a non-committal grunt. "It…. It's sad. To think… they'll never really see the world, you know?"

"Not like they're babies or anything. They're adults, for pete's sake."

"Yeah, but…" Danielle shrugged and sighed. "They're /not/, you know?" I understood exactly what Danielle meant, but I wasn't going to admit it. "Do you live in New York, Bod?"

"No. I'm here for business." I explained, then quickly bit my tongue. The hell? Why did I say that?

"What kind of business?" I was quiet, refusing to reveal anything else about myself. Danielle kept her eyes on me for a while, but didn't push it. Maybe I could get along with her. I swerved to avoid a wandering zombie and Joey awoke abruptly behind me.

"Uh, Danny." He whimpered.

"What is it, darling?" Danielle wondered in a sort of motherly way

."Do… do you think… mm." Joey shook his head and bit down on his lip, hard.

"Do I think what?"

"Do you think… that… there really is a safe house up there? With other people, even?" He wondered.

"Yes, of course." Danielle didn't miss a beat. "There has to be." That seemed to satisfy Joey, who went back to snoring softly on Harry's shoulder.

"You don't know." I muttered.

"It doesn't matter. /They/ need to know." I realized how much the twins looked up to Danielle as a leader. Maybe even Harry did, too. It was easy to see. The way Joey's bright, watery eyes would settle once he heard Danielle speak. How Jen would stop her nail biting every time Danielle put a hand on her shoulder. Even Harry would shut his mouth and nod when Danielle came up with an idea. And of course, there was the the night when I first found them, the silence that would echo Danielle's shaky words, a worried, panicked silence, screaming 'What if she dies? What do we do if she dies?'

I snorted suddenly, amused at how I had missed it before. "What?" Danielle wondered. That was it, too. She had taken the passenger seat with no questions asked. I'm sure she would have driven, too, had I not claimed the driver seat with my ass long before she could.

"Nothing. Just thinking about some things." I shrugged. It was my job to understand people without them having to open their mouths- just because we were in a zombie apocalypse, doesn't mean I was giving up just yet.

"Do you have a last name, Nobody?" Danielle asked abruptly.

"Do you?" I countered. Her features suddenly turned angry. I was surprised. Her eyebrows met, her eyes sparked and her mouth twisted into a grimace.

"Why do you do that?" She demanded.

"Do what?" I asked innocently.

"/That/!" She snapped, remembering to keep her voice hushed as not to wake up the twins. "Every time someone asks something, you just sort of deflect it back!"

"It's what I do." I shrugged. "Jeez, Danielle, whaddya want from me?"

"Call me Danny, please." She murmured. "Danny Olderweb."

"Ok, 'Danny Olderweb'." I muttered, squeezing the steering wheel. "I'm Nobody Williams."

"No you're not!" She pounded her fist in to her knee angrily. Harry coughed from the backseat. Danny took a deep breath to calm herself. "You're so…" She seemed unable to finish her sentence and turned away, irritable.

I smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

The car died right on the highway.

"Well, great." Harry grouched, getting out of the car. Danielle sighed, seeming to soak up the last bit of heat before getting out as highway was eerily quiet, and empty.

"Where are all the cars?" Jen was wondering the same thing, gazing around. It was literally empty.

"Maybe… maybe they, uh…" Danielle was unable to come up with a reason, simply shrugging. "Who knows. Come on, no use standing around." She encouraged, hoisting her gun to her hands and keeping a sharp eye out as we and Jen occasionally raced ahead, giggling and kicking snow at each other.

"Jo, Jen, don't act like you're having fun." Harry grumbled.

"Leave them." Danielle chided with a smile.

"Snow ball fight!" Jo demanded, dropping his gun into the powder and gathering up some of the fluff to aim at his sister. Jen was once step ahead, already tossing a flurry at him. Danielle giggled, but Harry and I seemed to agree on something, rolling our eyes. Joey pounced on Jen and they tumbled in the snow, turning white as it stuck to their clothing.

"Ok, guys, that's enough." Danielle giggled a little more before gaining control. "Joey, Jennifer, come on." Her voice grew stern, and they quickly got to their feet, cheeks flushed and breathing heavy. "Get your guns, let's go." They sheepishly grabbed their weapons and started walking normally again, still a couple feet ahead of us.

"Kids." Harry grumbled irritably. Danny just patted his shoulder in a calming way and we walked on.

"Are those lights?" Jen pointed out suddenly, while I was too busy contemplating how cold it had to be for your balls to actually fall off. We all perked up, squinting through the falling did appear to be two, circular lights in the darkness.

"Maybe it's a safe room?" Harry offered.

"Maybe." Danny nodded.

"We'll check it out!" Joey yelped, and the twins took off ahead, nearly slipping in the snow.

"Get back here!" Danielle called. There was a pause, and the darkness that the snow had brought swallowed the twins up. "Shit!" She cursed, and we picked up out speed, chasing after them. I nearly ran into Jen, wrapping my arms around her a pulling her close, backing up to Harry and Danielle. She seemed shock, not struggling in my arms. Joey was a little further ahead, mouth open, staring at the two lights that were directed upwards, attached to two posts that met at the top, a man hanging from the noose in between them. It had been recent, I deduced, for his flesh was only half-eaten, the cold obviously deterring the zombies, even from a free meal. He was stripped bare of any clothing, though there didn't seem to be anything wrong with him. No gray skin, no yellow teeth and nails. A sign hung around his neck with the noose, though I was too far away to read it just then.

"He's a person." Joey whimpered. "Just a regular person. Like me." We all stared for a long time.

"Death to all Carriers." Danielle read slowly off the sign.

"What's a carrier?" Jen whimpered, trembling against my chin. I started laughing. Hard. I had to release Jen and stoop on the ground, holding my gut, I was laughing so hard."What are you doing?" Jen screeched in horror.

"Oh my god! They're killing humans!" I breathed through my laughter, unable to stop. "People! They're killing people!" I had to rock back on to my heels, laughing hard and long. The snow froze me slowly as the others watched me break down.

"Don't." Danielle whispered, a hand on Harry's arm as he readied to bust my skull open. "Leave him."After a few long minutes, I managed to stop laughing and was merely smiling wide, sniffing.

"People. Look at him. There's nothing wrong with him." I pulled out a knife from my boot and viciously cut at the rope until it frayed and snapped, the body slumping to the ground. "LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO HIM!" I screamed at no one in particular. "YOU FUCKING BASTARDS! YOU KILLED A MAN! A GODDAMN REGULAR MAN!" I giggled and kicked snow over the poor bastard's face. I didn't have the heart to tell them all why this make me crack.

I had terrible flash backs that night as we tried to sleep in the safe house, the image of the poor hanging man burned to our eyes.

* * *

The hot, southern sun was beating down on me, making me taste sweat in my mouth, along with the copper. I heard maniacal giggling and cursed, tightening my grip on my sniper, slowly raising the scope to my eye and scanning the ground. A flash of pink. I squeezed the trigger giggling got louder.

"Fuck off!" I snarling, finding the tiny body again and shooting rapidly. The giggling stopped and I relaxed a bit, continuing on. The evacuation was completely empty, I realized with a sinking heart. Bodies covered the ground, and small white fences had been used to keep lines in shape. I slowly walked through the imaginary lines and stooped to pick up some ammo, my hand brushed a cold body. I did a double take, slowly beginning to smile."You're shitting me." I rolled the face over so I could get a better was human."You… you were an accident, right?" I spoke to myself, trembling. I turned to the nearest body. Pink skin, blue eyes. Pink skin, green eyes. No. No. I started laughing again as I made my way to the trailer at the end of the lines. The orange fliers glared at me, assaulting my eyes. If you think you are infected, remain indoors. Do not contact family. Do not make noise. Listen to the radio for further instructions. I was able to stop chuckling and merely grin softly when I read 'Radios make noise, shit heads'. I opened the door to the trailer, and was greeted with a shrill cry. I brought the butt of my gun down on the hooded figure's head and stunned it for a minute, causing it to fall back and stumble, but was growling hungrily. With two more shots pumped into its head, it stopped, flopping over."Punk-ass hoody bastard." I grouched, pocketing some adrenaline and a pipe bomb. A message stopped me. I hesitated, then picked up the piece of shining white paper, reading the tiny black letters, in striking contrast with each other.

'Note to the evacuation centre,

Some humans may not be infected, nor become infected, but in fact carry the GGr34 (Green virus) and are capable of passing it off to other persons of immediate contact. You are instructed to kill any so called 'Carriers' when they are deemed as such. Do not fail.'

I glanced at the body slumped in the corner. A look of terror was on her face. Her pink, human face.I grit my teeth in a wide smile."Sorry, darling." I murmured, crushing the letter in my fist and stuffing it in to my pants.

* * *

I was staring at the crumpled note again, this time in the safe house, with sleeping bodies around me. They weren't really sleeping. Everyone was too scared, and too curious. They knew. They knew /I/ knew, and they were waiting for me to crack. I smoothed the paper out again. It was covered in blood, guts, dirt, swamp muck, torn and ripped, but still legible. I sighed. I could sense the room perk up. I was already smiling before I started.

"A carrier… a carrier is a person, just a normal person, not a zombie, who carries the Green- er, the infection, and can pass it off to other people." I explained slowly to intent ears. "They were instructed to kill them."

"What makes someone a Carrier? I mean, we're all immune." Jen whimpered, her notebook open, her pencil trembling.

"Yeah… I, uh…. I'm not sure, really."

"So, any one of us could be carriers?"

"Can we pass it on to immunes?"

"I don't know, dammit!" I giggled, crumpling the note back up again. "That's all I know, ok?"There was a pause, and for a second, I thought I would get away.

"You've seen things." Danielle whispered. I sighed. "You… you've been down south, haven't you?" The air was stale. It smelt like unwashed bodies, suspicion and fear. Lots of fear.

"Yeah, I was down south." I chewed on my lip. "In a place called Savannah."

"Those zombies are real? The tongue one and the pouncing one?" Jen asked curiously.

"More than that, honey." I giggled.

"Tell us, Bod. You gotta tell us." Joey pleaded. I fiddled with my finger, debating telling much as I demanded I not, I was beginning to grow close to these people. Even Harry. I liked the way Jen's nose crinkled with she smiled. I liked how Joey's eyes were always wide and watery, like he was about to cry. I liked how Harry, though he had to weigh double me, never stopped to rest or eat more than usual. I liked how Danielle…. How she took charge. Didn't even think, just knew. These little things made my smile finally disappear to a light frown, and I was able to remain calm.

"The tongue guy, the pouncing one, yeah, they're called a Smoker and a Hunter. There's a big fat one, too. He throws up on you and explodes like a pimple." I watched Jen's hand rapidly run across her page. "He's a Boomer. The big pink gorilla? He's called a Tank. Then, uh, there's a Witch. She just sits around and cries, but she's super powerful if you scare her." I traced my fingers on the floor. "There's a Jockey. He looks like a Mugger sort of, but he jumped on your head and claws you and stuff. Uh, a Spitter, she's one ugly bitch that spits this acid at you. And a Charger, he's like the opposite of a Kicker, he has one big arm that grabs you and pounds you in to the ground." I shuddered and rubbed my ribs.

"Char-ger." Jen whispered as she wrote.

"You've come all the way from the south?" Joey wondered, eyes wide. "Were… were there people down there?"

"There were." I grunted, remembering the hell New Orleans was. "Now there sure as hell aren't, or god help their soul." I brought my knees up to my chest and rest my chin in between them, rocking slowly.

"How do you know about the carriers?" Danielle asked.

"On the way… to an 'evac centre'-" I made sure to let the twins know that they shouldn't put their faith so heavily in something "-I saw some things… things like that man, but…. But worse. They just… they must have just lined these poor people up, and…" The giggles came back, and I bit on my lip to try to hold them back. "And just shot them. Because… because they were carriers? I don't know. I don't know if carriers even exist, or if they're some paranoid thought made up by some scientist because he couldn't understand why people were changing, and he wanted to do something. I don't know. I've only seen." I explained, wishing I wasn't built so backwards and I could frown and shed some tears so Danielle and the others would stop looking at me like I was such a freak for laughing and smiling."Let's just… let's just…. Go to bed." I grumbled, turning away from them into my corner and screwing my eyes shut, determined not to listen.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, we were all a little hesitant to leave.

"What if… they kill us, too?" Joey had asked the question hanging in everyone's minds that morning over thin soup. "What if… we're carriers, or something?" Nobody answered, not even his sister. "Bod? Bod, how can we tell?" He whimpered, fingers clutching his empty bowl like it would somehow give him the answer he was looking for. I smiled and that seemed to anger him, jumping to his feet and smashing the bowl against the wall. We all jumped and flinched, Danielle getting to her feet and putting her arms around Joey, hugging him tightly and stroking his hair.

"It's ok, Jo. It's ok." She whispered over and over as Jen started sobbing softly.

"Well, alright, Jo." Harry grumbled. "We can stay here and die, or we can go there and die. What do you want to do?"

"Let's just stay here!" Joey screamed, pulling away from Danielle. "Stay here! I'd rather fucking starve then get shot down by my own people! /My own goddamn people/!" He rubbed his hair in a frantic way.

"Joey, sweetie…" Danielle reached out to him.

"No! No! Don't 'sweetie' me, Danielle! You knew this was gonna happen, didn't you?" Joey wasn't blaming or accusing Danielle, he was actually asking a question.

"Listen, young man, you can't go talking to Danny like that, she's just trying to help-" Harry began.

"You shut up, fat man!" Joey shouted. Harry got to his feet and charged for the boy. I watched, feeling a giggle starting to rise in my throat.

"Get a hold of yourself, Joey." Danielle chided, trying to relax him as she held Harry back.

"Let me go, Danny. I'll teach the snot a lesson!"

"Yeah, Danny, let `em go! Let's see what the big guy can do!" Jo shouted back. I burst into laughter.

Bad idea.

In a flurry of fist, Joey had directed his anger to me, and Harry wasn't far behind, throwing in a couple knuckles of his own.

"Boys, stop it!" Danielle shouted. "Stop, I said! STOP!"I could taste copper again when they finally let me, lying flat, still giggling and sniffing, wiping the blood from my face."Go cool off." I heard Danielle command angrily. One of the doors of the kiosk safe house opened and closed violently. I stared at the ceiling until Danielle swarmed in my vision, crouching down and using a damp cloth to wipe my face."Are you ok?" She asked. I could only smile. She sighed and dabbed at my teeth. "You've gotta stop that."

"I'm sorry." I giggled. "I can't help it."

"I know." She brushed some hair out of my face and helped me sit up. Jennifer was curled in a corner, still sobbing, rocking gently. Danielle left me with the cloth to press against my bleeding nose as she went to comfort the young girl, rubbing her back and stroking her.

It wasn't the first time I had gotten hit because of my unusual reactions, and it wouldn't be the last, I was sure. Once I was sure my nose had stopped bleeding and got to my feet and packed our stuff up. I sure as hell wasn't staying here to freeze to death. I checked and rechecked all the guns before I stood and scoped out the barred doors out of boredom. I shot all of one zombie in the hour it took for Danielle to convince everyone that we weren't going to die- not here, anyway. We grabbed our things and headed out, quiet.

"Bod." Joey caught my attention as we crunched through snow.

"Hm?" I glanced at him.

"Sorry for, uh… hitting you and stuff. It just… it's just hard, you know?" Joey sighed.

"Hard?" I wondered.

"Yeah, well, I mean… after seeing that guy… and, well, we are in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. My friends, my family… they're all…" Joey offered me a shy, weak smile. "I'm just sorry, ok?"

"No problem." I nodded. He studied my stony face for a long time.

"Are you happy?" He wondered. I shrugged. "Because.. Because you smile and laugh and stuff when you're upset, right? So you're happy right now?"

"Well, I'm not sad. And I'm not really happy, either. Just in the middle." I shrugged.

"So… do you like, frown and cry and stuff when you're happy?" I nodded. "So… do you like… cry when you orgasm?" The question caught me off-guard, and tears suddenly pooled in my eyes, streaming down my face as my lips turned down."Whoa, sorry man, I just-"

"You fucking idiot." I whimpered. "That was the funniest joke I've ever heard." Joey grinned and gently punched my shoulder, running ahead to take the lead with his took me a couple minutes to stop crying, but after the weather threatened to freeze the tears to my face, I didn't find it so funny and they stopped.

"What did you do to Joey?" Danielle hung back to talk to me after the kid had returned to his normal self, infecting his sister and Harry with light smiles.

"Eh? Oh, nothing. Just guy stuff." I shrugged.

"Well, whatever you did… thanks." Danny smiled and gave my hand a quick squeeze. "He's the thing that keeps us going, most of the time. It's hard when he gets down." She nodded, apparently to herself. "Harry, do you see something?" She asked as Harry hesitated, the grip on his baseball bat tightening.

"Er… no, I thought I might have heard something.. Just, watch out for a Squeezer." He called around. We all mechanically nodded. I was hoping to see one, just because I was twisted like that. After a while, I heard it, too. A soft hiss, just louder than our feet crunching the snow. Then, suddenly, a loud whine. A Mugger pounced on Danielle without any other warning, snatching her weapon and disappearing.

"Come back!" Danielle called, chasing him down into the trees that sided the highway.

"Danny!" We all called, chasing her. The few moments of heavy breathing and rapid footsteps were agony as we chased after Danny, ducking through snowy branches and icy roots.

"HELP!" I heard her scream and I readied my scope, scanning for found Danny on the ground, being wrapped by a Squeezer. Jen's drawings had been horrifically accurate- it was like a bastard baby from a snake and a person. And it was squeezing the life out of Danny. It had fangs sunk into her shoulder as I focused my scope and created a small hole between its eyes. Its grip slackened and we pulled Danny away from it, Joey and Jen kicking the body viciously as Harry and I tended to Danny.

"I'm ok, I'm ok." She whispered. "I think I just cracked a rib- I'm sorry guys, that was so stupid."

"Here, you're bleeding bad." I told her, gently removing her jacket and shirt so I could bandage her shoulder. She blushed and avoided my eyes, her arms covering her chest, but I was too busy watching the blood seep from the two large holes in her shoulder. After stopping them with gauze, I wrapped them up tightly.

"Come on, girl." Harry helped her to stand, handing her top and jacket back. She accepted them happily, shivering.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, that's the stupidest thing I've ever done." Danny groaned, shaking her head.

"Nah, I understand. Can't steal a man's gun." I patted her good shoulder. "Er, 'womans'."

"Yeah… it was a nice one." She glared back at the tracks of the Mugger. "Li`l bastard lead me right to that Squeezer." Joey and I exchanged looks, but said nothing.

"Come on, let's get back to the highway." Harry encouraged.

"Which way?" Jen asked nervously, glancing around.

"Well, this way, because-" I pointed to the ground, realizing that thick heavy snow flakes had been falling this whole time, covering our tracks. "Oh, shit.."

"Ah man!" Joey cursed quietly to himself. "Alright, alright. The highway was headed north. We just ran west. So, who knows which way is east?" We all looked at each other for a long time, me, of course, the only one smiling. "Alright, uh.. Anyone have a watch?" I perked up and handed him the watch I had stolen from a dead man's severed arm. Joey held the watch up to the sun, chewing on the inside of his cheek."Alright, this way." He confidently walked past us, apparently going East.

"Well, what choice do we have?" Danielle wondered, happily accepting Harry's gun as he still clung to his baseball bat. Joey, thankfully, was right, and we managed out of the forest back to the highway, resuming our walk.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and Nobody will attract a Lurker." Jen teased, walking backwards with her brother.

"Maybe." I frowned, amused.

"I've always wanted to see one. I mean, I'm sure it would try to eat me if I did, but, still!" She shrugged. "Just one glimpse of it- then I could draw it."

"So, tell me, little lady." I quipped. "What're you gonna do with those drawings after this, anyway?"

"I dunno. I mean, how many people have pictures of these guys? I've got `em all. Hey, Bod, you could tell me what the Southern ones look like and I could draw those ones, too! What kinda noises do they make? Or are they really quiet, like a Squeezer? I hate the quiet ones." Off she went, talking a mile a minute. Joey intercepted sometimes, putting in his own opinion, but it was Jen who had the motor mouth. I wasn't sure what Danielle was talking about with Joey being the pick up- it seemed to be Jen more than anything."How long have you been on your own for, Bod?" Jen asked suddenly once she was done her rant.

"Eh? Me?" I wondered.

"Well, who's the new guy here? Yeah, you." She stuck her tongue out. I cocked a brow.

"I've been on my own since this shit started. You're the first group I've ever found. Well, ever found and stuck with, anyway."

"You've met other groups?" Harry seemed surprised.

"Yeah. Just passed by."

"How many people?"

"Hm? Oh, uh… well, there were two groups, one had four, one had three."

"Just two groups?" Joey seemed disappointed.

"Whaddya want from me? Wasn't like it was a whole birthday party."

"How long did you stay with them?"

"Not long at all. The first group I met, well, I met up with them in New Orleans, where a supposed 'evac' was." I sighed. "There wasn't, by the way. They decided to keep going east. I went north." I rubbed my eyes in a tired way. "Then the second group. They were holed up on this bridge, just sitting there, safe from zombies. I said 'hi', they gave me some food, and I kept going. That was it."

"Then you met us." Jen filled in the gaps proudly.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Why didn't you go east with the other group?" Joey asked. I smiled.

"Because. One of them was a hill billy that couldn't shut his mouth, the other was this stupid con artist who thought he was smarter than me, the other was this big guy who kept acting like my dad, and then, well, there was this one nice girl, but, still. The other three were too much to handle." I shook my head. The times had been nice, though, however annoying. Just being with people had been a nice change of pace.

"Hm." Jen and Joey nodded slowly.

"Have you guys ever met any other people?" I wondered. There was a pause.

"Yeah, we had another guy in our group before you found us." Joey explained with downcast eyes. I glanced at Danielle, surprised she hadn't mentioned him. Jo obviously knew he didn't need to continue, for he didn't.

I thanked something that I was immune.

"Come on, guys, focus." Danielle murmured, and the twins turned around, on the look out at the front of the group, even though the Squeezer and the Mugger had really been the only creatures we had seen. As the sun began to set, a safe room was on the horizon, made up in a building resting on the Canadian-American border. Joey and Jen looked dearly like they wanted to run ahead in a race, but remember what had happened last time and instead slowed down to fall in step with us.

"You guys got your passports?" Danielle kidded weakly, rubbing Joey's head. No one answered as we neared. A zombie dressed in thick Kevlar was huddling in a glass booth, hiding from the cold. He hissed and spat at us, a weapon hanging from his belt. Danielle quickly disposed of him and grabbed the gun, grimacing as we bolted the safe room door."Not my AK…" She admitted. "But it'll do."We set out blankets and handed out some protein bars we found in a cache, stuffing the rest in Joey's large backpack.

"So, Bod.." Jen crawled over to me, her notebook out. "What do the south guys look like?" She wondered, ready. I sighed, thinking, rubbing the stubble covering my chin.

"Well, the Hunter… he looks pretty human, he wears like a big hoody and sweat pants, but there's like, tape and stuff wrapped around his wrists and elbows and knees and ankles. I dunno what it is, really. His hood covered his face mostly, but he's got really sharp teeth and big claws for fingernails." I explained.

"Cool." Jen slowly sketched it, accepting my suggestions until it looked rather respectable for someone who had never seen one."And a Smoker?"

"I'll tell you about a Smoker tomorrow." I muttered.

"No, come on! Tell me two- what's a Smoker look like?"

"Alright, alright, but that's it. Ok, he's really tall, like as tall as one of those Screamer guys, but instead of bags on his neck his one whole side of his face is covered in these bulbous sort of lumps. His tongue is long, and it hangs down past his chin when he's not using it. He's always coughing and there's a lot of smoke around him all the time, green smoke, with weird little lights floating around." She hung off my every word as she sketched.

"Awesome." She whispered once she had finished, gazing at her two new entries in her 'Zombiepedia'.

"Now, go to bed."

"Hmph." She stuck out her tongue again and crept back to her brother, snuggling for warmth. As if we both thought of it at the same time, Danny and I met in the middle of the room and she brought me to a corner, curling up with me.

"You must be from the south." She mused. "Because you shiver like a baby." I frowned. Her eyes widened for a moment, then she clued in. "Yeah, I know your game. You thought that was funny." Tears pooled in my eyes, just little ones, not big fat ones I had shared with Joey and his joke. "That's so weird." She muttered, not rudely, wiping some tears off my cheeks. "So, you're like, laughing, right?" I nodded.

"Yeah. Thanks for making me seem like an outcast, though." I grimaced. She giggled and brushed some hair from my face. I liked that.

"So when you laugh… you're crying?" She wondered.

"Yeah."

"So, back there… you were-"

"Yeah." I grunted, beginning to smile.

"Oh, sorry, I was just… it's hard to read you." She admitted.

"That's why I'm good at what I do." I shrugged.

"Mhm." We were quiet for a little. A gust of wind snuck through the bars of the door and I shuddered violently.

"Come here, baby." Danielle teased, pulling me into a tight hug. She winced and sucked in a sharp breath. I adjusted so her shoulder wasn't moving too much and it wouldn't upset the wounds. "Thanks." She whispered, almost too close for comfort. Again, I was aware that neither of us had showered or even brushed out teeth for what had to be more than a month. I searched her face for a long time, enjoying the way the moonlight shone on her dark skin. Danny's lips suddenly found my lower one, nibbling gently. I responded with light pecks, brushing my nose against hers'. Her good arm wrapped around my neck and played with my long hair, twisting it in her fingers. I kissed my way down to her neck and felt her tremble against me.

"No, wait." I remembered, a smile pulling up my lips. It wasn't fair. Why did my justice kick in now? "Erik." I reminded her softly. She nodded, biting her lip, tears starting to form. Right, those are bad on normal people. I hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"It's fine, you're fine." I told her, stroking her cheek and kissing her forehead lightly. "Don't give up on him." I murmured. "I bet he's at that evac."

"Christ, Bod." She whimpered. "There is no-"

"Don't say that. Please don't say that." I cradled her face in my hands. She looked so tired. "You don't know it. That man back there? He was put there by people, right? And that zombie, in the armour. He was /defending/ that place before he got turned, right? Danny, there are people there, and, dammit, if I'm wrong, I'll tell you and the rest of them every little bit there is to know about me." I whispered. She looked surprise.

"Ok." She nodded. Then a pause. "Even your name?"

"Yup." I brought her close to me again. "Promise."There was quiet for a long time. I was sure she had fallen asleep when she spoke again.

"Bod… I'm… I'm sorry." She whimpered. I was about to interject when she continued. "When you get to the evac, please tell the twins they're the nicest people I've ever met and I wish we could have gotten to know each other better and tell Harry that-"

"Hey, hey, hey, Danny, what's the matter?" I murmured, pulling her face from my shoulder to look her in the reflected, soft brown in the moonlight, filled to the brim with tears again. She took a shaky breath.

"Bod, I… I'm not immune."


	6. Chapter 6

I was cold. Really, really cold. I wished I could just be warm somewhere. I'd sit in as sugar mill full of witches to get warm. My nuts are permanently retracted.

I forced my eyes to open, brushing the frost away from my lashes. The room was quiet. I was the first one awake. Danny was still in my arms.

I stared at her for a long time. Her cheeks were still brown, chest still rising and falling with regular breaths. How long did it take for someone to change, I wondered rapidly. How long before I had to kill Danny? Would she tell the others? Would I be forced to explain to them /why/ I had to pump lead in to Danny?

As I thought, her eyes flickered open-Brown, by the way-And we stared at each other for a long time. I reached out and stroked her face with the back of my knuckle.

"I'm sorry." She whimpered again.

"Shh." I shushed her softly. "You don't know." I told her. She looked confused. "You… you don't know if you're not immune. You must be- the virus is airborne, right? You… you're immune or you would have changed by now. You'll be fine." I told her. "We're gonna get to the evac, and… and you're gonna find Erik and it's all gonna be fine." She opened her mouth to retort, but seemed unable to find anything to say, just shaking her head and crawling to her feet.

I woke the twins while Danny got Harry and we handed out the food rations for the morning.

"Well, I tell you one thing that's good about this." Harry grunted as we nibbled on breakfast, frozen yogurt bars. We all raised shocked brows, unaware there was /anything/ good about this. "I might not be such a fat bastard by the end of this!" He laughed. Joey and Jen burst into laughter. Danny smiled, and so did I.

"How about… we'll all have really good survival skills?" Joey offered.

"That's a good one." Danny nodded. "Ok, everybody, come up with something good that's going to come out of this once we get rescued." There was a pause as everyone thought.

"We'll be really nice to people because we'll be glad they aren't zombies." Jen piped up.

"Alright. Bod?" She turned that smile to me. I smiled right back.

Aren't you sick with yourself, Danny? Pinning that fake smile on? Doesn't fear grip you from the inside and just shake you until you can't stand straight? Don't you just want to curl up and give in, wait for the infection to course through your veins and overtake you brain? Because, man, it's making me want to throw up.

I swallowed back bile."Yeah. I dunno. I'm finally putting my gun to good use, I guess." A giggle was starting to slip out from my lips. Danny's smile finally fell away, and she shook her head half an inch.

"Bod, are you ok?" Jen asked nervously.

"Fine!" My voice cracked and I jumped. "Uh, fine, sorry. I was just… thinking too hard." I forced the smile away and stared at the floor."Let's just.. Go." Danielle encouraged us through the door.

The day was long. Longer than normal. All the while, my hand was tight on my rifle, but my eyes weren't focused on possible attacks.

She would be fine. She was immune. How could she know? She had to be immune.

But could you kill her if she wasn't?

We passed a tall zombie, flaps of skin on his neck. He watched us carefully.

"Does he really think any zombies are gonna come?" Jen wondered as the sacks on his neck began to inflate as he readied to scream.

"Ah, hell no." I growled, raising my scope to my eye and firing through his neck. His scream never surfaced as he collapsed in inky blood.

"Nice shot." Harry commented as we continued.

"Hey, hey, guys, I got a story to tell you." Joey smirked happily. "One time, Jen and I were in the mall and Jen was all embarrassed because this guy was there that she liked and we had to walk past him and then-"

"Shut up!" Jen snapped, pushing his shoulder.

"Hey, it's a funny story! Anyway, so she was a freaked out that she was gonna say something wrong and-"

"Joey!"

"-And so when this guy says 'hi' Jen screams 'I LIKE CANDY CORN' and runs away!" Joey was laughing heartily. Jen was flushed with shame.

"Don't worry about it, little lady." I purred to her, hoping she wouldn't notice the tears in my eyes. "No shame in makin` a fool of yourself. Everyone does it."

"No more stupid stories!" She snapped.

"Alright, alright." We were quiet for a bit longer, but Joey seemed unable to shut his mouth today."Ok, I've got a question for you guys." Joey announced.

"What?" Danny wondered, looking unusually tired.

"A Screamer, a Squeezer, a Stinger- gotta fuck one, marry one, kill one." Joey smirked slyly.

"Can't we just kill them all?" I wondered.

"Nope, gotta fuck one and marry one, too."

"Ok, I'd pick…" Jen thought for a little. "I'd kill the Squeezer, I hate those guys… Uh… I dunno… maybe marry the Screamer? I mean, he can't do much damage, right? Then fuck the Stinger, I guess. Ouch, that would hurt." Jen winced.

"Ok, Harry, you?" Harry snorted, shaking his head.

"I refuse to answer."

"Aw, come on, Harry, don't be a party pooper." Joey whined.

"Alright, alright. Uh… I dunno. Maybe… kill the Screamer, fuck the Squeezer, and marry the Stinger."

"Why?"

"Well, because. Anyone who's been married knows that the last thing you want is a bitch who screams at you all the time. Besides, with a Stinger, you would never /want/ to have sex with it." I gave Harry a knowing nod and Harry raised a brow with curiosity.

"Bod?" Joey wondered.

"Hm. Probably the same as Harry, yeah. Sounds good. Besides, fucking a Squeezer? Dude, just the name sounds good." Harry gave me a knuckle of approval and we both smiled in our own way. Joey twisted his face around, curious. Ah, poor virgin Joey.

"Wait, hold on, Jo." That got me thinking. "/Are/ you a virgin?" He flushed terribly and I knew the answer.

"So what?"

"Nothing, I was just curious. Danny, do the boy a favour and sleep with him before he dies with a 'V' over his head." I joked, but Danny just smiled in a tired way.

"I'm sure he'll meet plenty of girls where we're going." She assured him softly.

"Ya think? Gee, I hope so." Jo hesitated, shyly glancing at Harry and I. "Bod, Harry, er… what's it like?"

"Well, let's just say you aren't a man `till you've had it." Harry explained bluntly. I frowned in agreement.

"Ah man…" Joey stared at his feet, tapping the magazine of his gun. "I hope we get there soon."

"Heh, slow down buddy, there'll be plenty of time for repopulating." I reassured him. He grinned and shrugged, bounding up ahead with his sister close behind.

"A couple of good kids." Harry nodded.

"You taught them, didn't you, Harry?" Danny asked softly.

"Yeah, in grade school." Harry nodded. "Good kids then, too. Their Dad raised `em well."

"No Mom?" I wondered.

"Nah. She died in childbirth." Harry explained sadly. "Shame, really. But they grew up fine." I watched the twins toss snow at each other again, their bare fingers turning cherry red from the cold.

"Bathroom break!" Joey announced a little while later as he slid down the highway to the trees, slinging his gun over his shoulder. Harry and I followed, the girls taking the opposite way."How do girls do it, I wonder?" Joy peeped over his shoulder, though it was impossible to see over the hill of the highway.

"Called squattin`, boy." Harry chuckled.

"Too bad there's no toilet paper for `em."

"Yeah, real shame." Joey's ramblings never failed to amuse me. I finished and quickly did up my zipper, my important parts already out in the cold too long.

"That's a nice Magnum there, Bod." Harry observed.

"Eh? Oh, thanks." I had bent down to pick up my gun and he had spotted the pistol showing out of the back of my pants, where it usually sat. I subconsciously reached behind and gave it a small squeeze.

"Where'd ya get it?"

"Stole it." I admitted without thinking, then hastily back pedalled. "I mean, uh, borrow it from my Dad."

"You've got a Dad?" Joey asked as he finished, brows raised.

"Of course I've got a Dad, what, did you think I-" I stopped, studying his face.

I had appeared out of thin air to these a little, they thought they were the only four people left on I showed up, like I was dropped from the sky, pleading on the other side of the safe door.

No name, no past, and no Dad.

"Yeah. Yeah, I /had/ a Dad." I nodded, resisting the urge to smile. "Come on, then, let's go." We hiked back up to the highway where the girls were waiting, guns cocked lazily at their sides.

"Take long enough?" Jen asked, smiling.

"Sorry, had to talk about some guy stuff. Guns and chicks and stuff." Joey explained with a shrug. We continued until it got dark and we found a safe house. It was built in a tiny house, complete with a fireplace and an upstairs.

"We must be close." Danielle muttered as she gazed at the untarnished walls and familiar orange fliers.

"Must be." Harry pulled out a sharpie from her back and flicked her wrist, beginning to write on the wall. Jen, Joey, Harry, Danielle, Bod.

Survivors.

My mouth got dry and I didn't have the heart to tell Jen she may have to cross a person out sooner than later.

We were exchanging stories again, over a fire Harry and Joey had spent the better part of an hour trying to make. Jen even contributed to the conversation, despite her earlier comment.

"Bod, I say you tell us one thing about you." Jen encouraged. I chewed on my lip. "Come on, we're all your friends. What's gonna happen?" There was quiet.

"You're my friends?" I echoed, gazing around. They all exchanged looks and Danielle reached out and squeezed my fingers between hers, a light smile on her full lips.

"O`course we're your friend. Wouldn't let ya in if we weren't, right?" Harry muttered. I felt warm inside and started laughing.

"Bod?" Everybody panicked, knowing what laughing meant. That made me laugh harder. They knew me, yet they didn't even know my /name/!

"I'm ok, I'm ok." I stopped laughing to show them I was frowning. "H-Happy laughs, you know? Like happy tears!" I laughed shakily again, shaking my my laughter echoed into silence, I looked up and sighed."Thanks, guys." I muttered, staring deep into the golden flames of the fire. "You don't know… how much that means." I admitted slowly, dropping my gaze to stare at my hands as they reveled in the warmth. "I, uh... I've never really had friends before. Not friends like you guys." We were quiet and Jen giggled.

"We'll always be your friends, Bod." She told me. "No matter what." I snorted and giggled a bit, nodding.

"Sounds good."

"Ok, come on, tell us something. Tell us your name." Jen pleaded. I shook my head.

"No. I tell you my name, and suddenly you're running back for me because I fell in the middle of a horde and we both die." My plan sounded perfect to me. Jen didn't think so, her lower lip jutting out pitifully.

"Well... how about... your job?" She wondered. "I'm not gonna run back to save you just because you're a mechanic." There was a pause and I sighed.

"Ok. I'm a human lie detector." I explained. "I work for the government. I know how to read people. Every facial twitch, I know what it means. I'm used in interrogations to find out who's lying and who's not." There was a pause.

"Cool." Joey whispered.

"It's alright." I nodded. Danielle slid half an inch away from me.

"Well, come on, guys. Everyone get's their own room tonight, huh?" She offered. I sent her an odd look, and it was received rather coldly by her shoulder.

"Ok. Ok." Joey and Jen both yawned and nodded, getting to their feet and bickering playfully up the stairs until a door closed.

"You guys can have the second room, if you like. This couch is pretty cozy." Harry told us before getting comfortable and closing his eyes.

"Ok. Night, Harry." Danny murmured, getting to her feet. I followed her, curious as to her behaviour.

For someone who was trained to read people, I was pretty illiterate compared to Danielle.

"Floor or bed?" Danny wondered, gesturing to the small cot and the hard wood floor. I squinted in the darkness created by the boarded windows.

"Can't we share?" I wondered, scuffing the hard floor with my shoe. Danielle sighed and said nothing, merely crawling into the bed. I pulled up the thin blankets and shivered again.

"Honestly, you're so..." She rolled over and hugged me.

"Thank you." I whimpered softly.

"Go to bed." She commanded. A few moments of silence and "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound so bossy."

"It's ok. You're like that, huh?" I wondered.

"I am not bossy." She grouched, undignified.

"Just a little. I like a girl with back bone." I flirted quietly. She seemed shocked at my actions, but didn't pull away or get mad. Instead, she pushed her forehead against mine again, noses brushing.

"What girl would like a Nobody? Annie, maybe?" She poked a sore, mental spot. I grinned.

"No. Not unless you like brother-sister action."

"You had a sister?" She asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah. Had." I emphasized. There was more quiet.

"Sorry." She whispered after a long time.

"No problem."

"Did she... did she..."

"Cancer. She had had it since she was young." I explained shortly.

"Oh. Well... at least she didn't have to deal with this." Danny offered. I grunted, hoping the room was dark enough that she couldn't see my smile.

To stop my thoughts from drifting to memories- Annie, Dad, Baxter- I set my lips on Danny's, hungrily, forgetting she was engaged. Danny did too, apparently, for she responded just a fiercely, accepting my invitation to straddle my hips.

Her hands ran through my ridiculously greasy, matted hair. I could feel lice falling out from under her fingers and was momentarily disgusted, but was too busy working my hands under her shirt, pleased.

Separating for only a couple seconds to get our breath back, we were back at it again, Danny helping herself to handfuls of my shirt and tugging impatiently.

I didn't want this, I realized. As much as I wanted Danny, I didn't want her like /this/.

I didn't want a sweaty fling that would leave a bad after taste the next morning.

I wanted a life with Danny. I would tell her everything about me, and she could live with me, and we could-

Danny released my shirt suddenly, pulling away from me to stumble out of the room hurriedly. I was confused until I heard the familiar sounds of someone being sick in a toilet.

A hacking cough followed, and more vomit.

I absently hoped it wasn't my kissing that had spawned this.

Or did I?

When Danny returned, she looked paler than normal, but climbed back into bed with me nonetheless, simply nuzzling into my shoulder. I held her tightly.

She was immune. She was immune.


	7. Chapter 7

"Wake up, you guys!" Someone called from the doorway. Pounding footsteps announced their exit.

I groaned and rolled over, wincing in the sunlight.

"Danny?" I nudged her gently. She turned her face out of the pillow and blinked blearily at me, a light smile on her lips.

"Morning." She murmured.

"Morning." I leaned over and gave her a light peck on the lips. She tasted like sweat and vomit.

We trudged down the stairs, where everyone else was full of energy.

We ate our breakfast and organized our supplies. Thankfully, there had been a cache of ammo here, for we had been gradually running out. I was pleased to find ammo for my sniper and spent a few minutes counting out the bullets.

"How do you use that?" Jen asked as we readied to leave.

"Hm? This?" I pulled up my rifle. She nodded. "Here." I helped her to handle it, explaining how she couldn't put her eye right against the scope or she would lose it on the kick.

"Wow, look how far I can see.." She murmured, angling it through the bars and searching for a zombie in the wasteland. "This is cool!" She squeezed the trigger and yelped as the rifle rebounded against her.

"Careful." I took it bad from her and she rubbed her rapidly bruising eye. "I warned you."

"Sorry." She smiled sheepishly. Joey gave her a quick once over and shrugged.

"He did warn you." He nodded.

We headed out back to the small road which would lead out into the highway again.

We came upon a giant slope, covered in slick ice.

"Alright, guys." I began. "Let's all be careful now, we don't need any-"

"WHOO!" Joey threw himself down the hill, penguin-style, sliding neatly to the bottom. Jen followed quickly behind on her rear, tumbling into him.

"Well, I guess that's one way.." I muttered, dropping down and sliding forward myself. Harry and Danny quickly followed.

As I struggled back to my feet on the icy ground, it began to get even more difficult as the world started to shake.

My heart thudded, hollow in my ears, and a grin spread over my face.

The other were trying to get their balance as well, looking terribly confused. Danielle was the only one ready, her gun raised, knees slightly bent to keep upright. Normally I would have looked further into that, but I was too busy trying to find the pink, steroid-abusing gorilla.

It bashed through the trees suddenly, jawless mouth hanging open as it screamed at us.

"The fuck-?" Joey was cut off as it hurled a chuck of ice at us, bellowing.

It smashed between us, Danny and I going one way, Jen, Joey and Harry going the other.

"Shoot and run! Shoot and run!" I called to them as I scrambled back to my feet, shooting bullet after bullet into the tough hide. Danny was right along with me.

It bellowed angrily and came after us.

Then a smash and the roar of flames.

The Tank's back caught flame as someone behind us threw a Molotov. I wasn't sure how in the hell they had gotten it, or even kept it unfrozen, but I was sure they had to of been keeping it to their heart like a goddamn teddy bear.

It screamed and turned on them, charging.

Danny and I chased it, firing, the smell of burning flesh making my mind spin.

"Shoot it! SHOOT IT!" I heard faintly, for I was trying to regain my balance after falling again. I distantly heard the death cry of the beast, then silence.

Someone was helping me up. Danielle.

"Are you ok?" I asked blearily, bringing her close.

"I'm fine." She fought to get out of my arms. "Where are the other, Bod? Did you see the others?" She asked impatiently.

"N-No." I gazed around. I saw smoke in the distance and pointed to it. "Tank." I announced softly.

"Right. Come on." She encouraged, taking my hand and pulling me towards the column of smoking tank-burger.

We found them surrounding the body, panting and cut up, but not too injured.

Harry was tending to a large cut on Jen's forehead, and they all looked to us for answers.

"Tank." I explained again with a general point of the finger. "Bad." I emphasized.

"That thing… is huge…" Joey panted, finally losing the amusing smile.

"Yup." I nodded. Jen, trying to peer through Harry's busy hands, had her pencil and book out, trying to sketch.

"What's it doing up here?" Joey continued to ask.

"I don't know." Danielle answered, even though the question was probably directed at me. She seemed to notice and her cheeks flushed with colour. She looked pale, I realized, noticing this sharp contrast. "I mean, er… you said it stayed down south. We've never seen one up here." She sighed. "Let's hope there aren't anymore." She helped Joey to his feet and Harry brought up Jen, who was shaking, but was otherwise unhurt with her cut bandaged.

As we walked, I was on red alert again. I had gotten lazy, a false sense of comfort the freezing snow brought clouding my judgement.

Now I was ready for a wheezing cough, a screaming cry, a loud belch, a maniacal giggle..

The grip on my rifle tightened.

Fucking Jockeys. Hate those bastards. Always laughing.

"Hey look, a car!" Joey yelped as we walked, spotting the red Volvo in the distance, running for it.

"Joey, no-!" The words weren't out of our mouth fast enough. He had already grabbed the handle of the car, and a loud beeping started.

"Ah!" Joey stumbled back in surprise. We all paused, and heard it.

The roar of the horde.

I pushed forward and tried to open the door, but it didn't budge.

As a black flood of zombies started to swarm out of the trees, I smashed the window with the butt of my rifle and crawled in, glass cutting my stomach as I reached the wires and pulled them out.

I could hear gun fire erupt behind me and I started to wriggle, trying to escape the awkward position that was me, bottom-up.

I could feel hand grab my feet and heaved me out.

I yelped and scrambled to my feet, thinking it was a zombie, but it was only Harry, hoisting me to my feet and then going back to firing at the horde.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Joey called over the shouts of the horde and the sound of our guns.

"Bomb coming!" I heard Danny call. I prepared for the flash of red from a pipe bomb, but instead heard the smash of glass and a toxic, familiar scent filled my head as zombies rushed for the green plume it created.

"Shoot, shoot!" I encouraged as the twins and Harry stood and watched in shock. They quickly began to shoot again, zombie falling everywhere as they struggled to find the source of the smell.

When the zombies finally stopped and we were able to catch our breath, I gradually began to realize something.

I grabbed Danny by the shirt and gave her a little shake. Her eyes widened and she winced as I hissed at her.

"Where the hell did you get that? Who /are/ you?" I snarled. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore me.

"I… found it… in a CEDA outpost.." She explained weakly. I studied her face, though it was hard to see through the bruises and dried blood. Something made me release her, not want to make her so uncomfortable.

Instead, I brought her into a hug. She relaxed, her fingers twisting in my shirt.

"Is everyone alright?" I wondered as Danny removed my shirt to bandage some of my cuts.

"Yeah, I'm good." Harry nodded. "A Tank and a horde… let's just find a goddamn safe house and go to bed." He grumbled irritably.

"Good call." Joey grunted, rubbing his sore arm. "What was that stuff you threw Danny?" He wondered.

"Um… I don't know. Something called Boomer bile." She shrugged, turning to me.

"A Boomer… if a Boomer throws up on you, all the zombies are attracted to you, and no one else." I explained shortly, accepting my shirt back from Danny as my chest froze.

"Scary." Jen shuddered.

"Well… at least we have a car." Joey gestured to the Volvo sheepishly.

"Outta gas." I explained.

"Oh." We were quiet as Joey fumed with embarrassment.

"Well, no use standing-" Danny was about to encourage us onward, but a racking cough forced her to hunch over until she spat out some blood and wiped her mouth.

"You ok, Danny?" Harry wondered.

"Yeah, fine… I hate the cold." She admitted, patting her chest. I giggled. "But really, let's go." She immediately reached for my hand.

I should have refused. What was the use if she was just going to get sicker?

But I didn't. I relished the feeling of her fingers in mine.

To our surprise, there was a man in the safe house we reached. He was alive, too.

He was mourning the loss of his two comrades, who had fallen ill and attacked him.

He explained by showing us the bite wound on his wrist.

Before anyone could do anything, I raised my rifle and put a bullet through his head.

Silence echoed the ring of my shot as the man's body fell to the ground.

"Why…. Why…." Jen could hardly get her words out through her tears. "Why?" She gasped.

"He got bit." I explained, confused. "I was killing a zombie."

"You killed a man." She told me, grasping the body by the shoulders and bringing it outside with the other two.

"You saw him." I growled as she locked the door. "You saw- he was pale, his eyes were turning colour. He was changing." I sighed. "I'm sorry I had to kill him, but… I /had/ to." Jen said nothing, though I could tell she was angry, she knew I was right.

"Alright, you lot, off to bed." Danny encouraged. The safe house was another small house, a bit bigger than the last. The twins irritably did as told, undignified at being spoken to like children.

Danny, apparently shaken from the encounter with the Tank and horde, wanted to stay downstairs and take a watch, just in case.

"Come on, Danny." I encouraged, sitting on the couch with her after Harry had gone to bed. "Nothing's gonna get in here."

"You don't know that." She murmured, curled up, staring in to the fireplace. I sat next to her and stroked her face, peppering kisses along her jawline. She fell into me gently, nibbling and sucking softly on my neck.

Eventually our lips met and we moved smoothly with one another, the cleft in her chin fitting my thumb perfectly, her hands shaping my head.

When my tongue ran along her lower lip, I was rewarded with a soft moan from her throat and her hand resting on my groin.

But then I started thinking again.

No, no no.

The truth was, I had shot that guy not out of mercy or fear- but because I wanted to see if I could do it. I wanted to see if I could shoot someone like that. And I could.

But sleeping with Danielle would not make this any easier.

And yet we still ended up naked on the couch, the adventure ending in only a few, blissful minutes.

"Bod…" Danny whispered as she rested on my chest after forcing our dirty, blood-caked clothes back on. The good thing about the snow, however, was that it kept things relatively fresh.

"Yes?" I murmured, dread slowly sinking back into me as I hugged her tightly.

"I…" Please don't say that. Dear god, don't say that. "I, uh…" There was quiet. "Good night." She murmured, settling back in and promptly falling asleep. I sighed with relief and closed my own eyes.


	8. Chapter 8

"Danny, Bod, wake up." Joey woke us up with light taps from his sub-auto on the top of our heads.

"Ok, alright.." Danny immediately got up and shook her head tiredly, sliding off me, her heated mattress, and packing her things. I stayed down a little longer, resting my eyes until I was interrupted again, this time by Danielle, and finally got to my feet, grabbing my things and checking that my pistol was in the back of my pants.

"Where's my-" I was ready to charge back the way we came, searching for my pistol so I could feel its reassuring weight in my hand, when Danielle stopped me, forcing the shiny Magnum into my back pocket. She had a sly smile on her lips and stretched up to my ear.

"I grabbed both of your pistols last night." She explained. I kissed her forehead when I was sure no one was looking and nuzzled her. Then I hesitated.

"Pistol? Don't you mean rifle?" I growled. She laughed cheerfully before she had to cough and wince, grabbing my hand for support.

I gave it to her.

"Danny?" Jen and everyone else paused at her horrifying cough. She waved them off until she could straighten.

"Come on, we should go. We should make it to the evac by tonight." Danielle announced. It seemed to light a fire under everyone's asses and they quickly got ready, preparing for the bitter cold, and boy, was it cold. It had snowed all night and was a good foot deep, forcing us to trudge through it. As much as I loved having practically no zombies to shoot, it wasn't worth the cold. I'd rather be warm and almost dead than freezing and perfectly fine. And the snow scared me, crunching under our feet, it was hard to hear anything else. The fluffy flakes made it hard to see in the distance, and froze my hands to my gun. And as the moon rose, the temperature continued to drop.

I was pausing once again to rub my eyes miserably, trying to unfreeze my lashes, when I heard a growling. The group, just a few feet ahead, heard it too, all pausing to listen. It was a loud huffing noise, like harsh breathing almost.

I lifted my scope to my eye carefully, scanning the area. I couldn't see anything, I realized. It was a frozen wasteland on my scope, and I pulled it down to viciously scrape the frost away.

"A Lurker." Jen whispered. "Someone… someone go out there."

"Jennifer!" Danielle snapped in a hushed whisper. "Don't… say things like that!" We were all quiet, watching. The huffing would get louder, then quieter as the thing moved.

Then I saw it.

It was standing in front of us, a black mass in the dark night. I snapped the gun up to it, walking back to the group.

"Don't, Bod! Don't!" Jen squeaked. I pulled the trigger three times. The thing was huge, probably about as big as a Charger. It was impossible to miss so close, yet nothing happened. We all waited. The thing was standing in our way. We had to do something. It started walking towards us. I loaded seven more shots into the thing, but still, nothing happened.

"Bod!" Someone grabbed the scruff of my shirt, pulling me back as we backed up, the Lurker getting ever closer. Joey was scrambling to get something in the darkness, I couldn't tell what, my eye still glued to my scope, my finger ready for another shot, when-

A blinding light filled my scope and I had to pull it away, blinking rapidly. I realized Joey had pulled out a flashlight and shone it on the Lurker. It only gave us about two seconds to look at it. It looked like a mutated grizzly bear, clumps of reddish fur hanging off it's heavy body, face twisted and mangled to a point where I wasn't sure it was human or not.

As soon as the light lit up its face, it bellowed, impossibly loud, and threw itself at us. I felt the wind get knocked out of me and I thumped into the ground. There was gunfire everywhere. I shut my eyes, not wanting to see the grizzly sight the bear-thing would make of me with those wicked claws.

Then, it was over. I refused to open my eyes, sure something would happen if I did.

"Come on, Bod, come on!" Someone encouraged in a hushed whisper, bringing me to my feet and brushing snow off me.

"Is he ok?"

"Yeah, just a couple scratches. Bod, open your eyes, come on!" It was Harry, shaking me roughly by the shoulders. I gradually did, taking in my surroundings. Jen was huddled by the slain Lurker, looking over every inch of its body and quickly sketching it down.

"Call it a Crusher." Joey smiled grimly. "`Cause, boy, it crushed you, Bod." I grunted, pained.

"Next time, let's /not/ shine a light in its eyes." I growled, hugging my sore stomach.

"Heh." Joey looked sheepish. "Come on, we're almost there." He looked out at the dark horizon. We all did as well. "I can feel it."

A terrible coughing started, and for a second I was sure it was a Smoker and nearly shit myself. Then I remembered that Smokers don't come so far up here and that it was Danielle, bent over, coughing horribly.

"You ok, Danny?" Joey asked, giving her light pats on the back. With a final hack, she spat out blood from her mouth and nodded.

"Yeah, fine."

"Hey, you don't look too good." Joey observed.

"I'm fine. Come on, like you said. We're almost there." Danny assured him, though he was right, her face looked pale and her eyes were glossy. "Let's go." They all exchanged dubious glances- I couldn't or else I would burst into laughter, as it was I was holding back a maniacal giggle-before shrugging and nodding, hung back with me and reached for my hand. I gave it to her, rubbing her palm with my thumb.

"It's gonna be ok." I told her softly, sparing a quick kiss on to her cheek. "You're gonna be ok." She sniffed and smiled weakly.

"Yeah. Ok." She stared straight ahead, merely chuckling to herself.

"Guys! Guys! I see it!" Joey shouted, his flashlight a bouncing light up ahead. "There it is! Come on guys!" We all picked up our speed a little, and were soon at two large, steel gates.

"Uh…" We all exchanged slow glances. Danielle stepped up to the doors, then turned around to face us.

"Ok, guys, listen up." She whispered, wiping some more blood from her lips. I noticed her face was starting to lose colour. "I'm gonna do something, and you guys aren't gonna like it. But don't be mad, please don't be mad."

No, don't, Danny, don't. You're immune, you're immune!

"Danny?" Jen tilted her head curiously. Harry and Joey looked confused.

"I love you guys so much. I know we've only known each other a month, but.. But you guys are the best friends I've ever had. Even you, Bod." She smiled at me. Again, I smiled back. "If I had to pick anyone to spend a zombie apocalypse with, well, you guys would be my first choice." She smiled weakly and kissed Jen and Joey's foreheads before hugging Harry. She stepped to me and merely put our faces together, her forehead pressed against mine, eyes closed.

"Danny, what're you talking about?" Joey whimpered.

"I'm sorry." She whispered to me. Wait, that sounded different. That wasn't 'I'm sorry for what I'm making you do' or 'I'm sorry this had to happen'.

That was 'I'm sorry for lying'.

"Danny, you-" I was cut short when Danny pulled away from me and stepped back up to the gates, rapping sharply on it three times.

"State you name!" Someone called through an intercom.

"Danielle Olderweb, CEDA Scientist for Lab 13 studying human-infected interactions." Danny repeated like she knew it off by heart. All of our jaws dropped in awe, and I started to giggle, readying my gun.

I knew what she wanted now.

I raised my rifle, then thought better. It was too cold. I reached for my pistol.

This was personal.

As the gates whistled and slowly began to open, I raised the gun to fix it on Danielle's head.

"Danny." I called to her softly. It caused to others to look and see what I was doing. A moment of shocked silence followed, long enough for me to say what I wanted and get away with it. Danielle didn't turn, but I saw her fist's clench. "You're the first person who ever got away with lying to me." I told her.

I thought back to when the Squeezer had first bit her, when she covered herself shamefully.I realize now she was actually covering the tattoo on her chest that read the initials C.E.D.A.

"You're the first person I've ever really wanted to talk to." I explained further.

Danny resting on top of me, just last night, her breath warm as I listened to the miracle that was her heart beat.

"And.. You're the first person I'm going to regret killing." She sighed softly. The gates continued to open. I could see guards on the other side. They panicked, seeing my weapon and began to ready their's.

"Christopher Wright." I called.

"I love you." Danny called at the same time.

I pulled the trigger.


	9. Chapter 9

When I awoke, I felt blossoms of pain all over my body.

I cracked my eyes open and recognized a hospital room. I was hooked up to a couple machines that beeped loudly.

Then I noticed something else.

I was alone.

I struggled to sit up and could only cry out in pain, one of the machines beginning to beep rapidly. I slumped back into the pillows, breathing heavily. When I moved my right arm, I was unable, and realized I was handcuffed to the side of the bed.

Where was I? What was happening? Why did I feel like this?

Where was Danny?

I ripped away the wires that were stuck all over me as a nurse came in, dressed in street clothes, surprisingly.

"Sir, please remain still." She chided softly. I could barely hear her over my pounding head.

"Where am I?" I demanded.

"You're safe." She told me. There was a silence only filled with my heart beat.

"Safe?" I echoed.

"Yes." More quiet.

"Where's Danny? And the twins? And Harry? Where are they?" I wondered. The nurse sighed, held up a hand indicating 'one minute' and left the room. I waited, eyes fixed on the door for her return. Expressions had crossed her face that, in my current state, I couldn't read, and it scared me. What was she doing?

I felt blind-folded.

Then the doors opened back up and Jen, Joey and Harry walked in slowly.

"Guys?" I whimpered. Only Harry looked me in the eye. "Guys, guys, where's Danny?" I wondered.

"What's wrong with him?" Jen whispered.

"He's drugged." Harry explained sadly.

"Please, tell me what's happening!" I screamed, pulling against the handcuff again, a laugh starting to bubble up my throat. "Please! Please!"

"You killed Danny!" Joey bellowed back at me suddenly. I stared, horrified.

Then the memories rushed back to me.

I pulled the trigger and Danny's head exploded in front of us, showering the snow and anything else near it with brain matter and strange, black blood.

Her body, horrifyingly enough, stayed up for about two seconds, then crumpled to the ground.

By this time, the guards on the other side were opening fire on the crazy man with the gun, and my own blood began to leak out my legs as shot after shot whizzed through me.

I heard a scream as I collapsed, my eyes getting heavy, refusing to stay up as I obeyed and let them close...

I burst into laughter.

It was so loud and hard that I was told you could hear it all the way down the hall. Tears actually sprung up in my eyes I was laughing so hard.

Well, that sort of counts as being normal. I /was/ crying.

They waited there the whole time, Jen hesitantly coming forward to put a hand on mine in a comforting way.

When my laughs finally died away to exhausted chuckles, Jen spoke.

"We know Danny was infected, Bod." She told me quietly. "We found out after they investigated her body." She brushed some hair out of my eyes. I noticed they had showered and were in different clothes. I wished I could have a shower. I could only stare at Jen with confused eyes. "But... they have you locked up just case... `cause you were laughing like a crazy man when you shot Danny, and, well, that didn't really go over well with them." She sighed. "We tried to explain you were actually crying, but they didn't bite." Her eyes watered miserably. "We're... not mad at either of you." She murmured. "We know it took.. a lot of guts for you to do that, Bod, and.. and..." She dropped her head, tiny sobs rocking her body.

I reached out with my unlocked arm and stroked her hair.

"I'm sorry." I whispered.

"Don't be." Joey muttered after a long time. "You... you did what these guys would have done, anyway. At least... at least you did it because you loved her." He sniffed and wiped away some of his own tears.

What he said struck me as odd.

'Because you loved her'.

"Because I what?" I whispered.

"We aren't stupid, Bod." Harry offered me a tired smile. "We seen the way you two looked at each other. It was harder not to know." I was shocked, moving my eyes from them back to Jennifer as she sobbed over me.

"Where's my rifle? And my pistol?" I asked suddenly.

"They confiscated all our stuff." Joey explained irritably. "It's all in a cache somewhere."

"Fuck no." I growled. "Those are my babies. I want them back."

"Good luck." Joey sighed, scuffing his shoe against the ground.

"Bod, you know what else we found out?" Jen whimpered suddenly, looking up and wiping her red eyes.

"What?" I wondered.

"Danny was lying to us the whole time." She smiled shakily, like she was amused by this. "She didn't even have a fiancée- she was a scientist this whole time, and was actually getting flown right to here before her pilot got infected. You know what? She came from the south, too. She knew all about that stuff." Jen explained with a soft sigh. "Why d`you think she lied?"

"Why d`you think she helped us?" I asked instead. Jen shrugged slowly.

"If she didn't, we'd still be at home, tryin` to fight zombies ourselves." Joey realized slowly.

"I'd be dead meat if she didn't show me how to handle a gun." Harry nodded.

"You said your job was to see if people were lying. How come you didn't know?" Jen wondered innocently, her nails at her mouth as she chewed. I took a minute to process this question.

"Maybe... I did know. But I didn't want to know." I muttered, no other explanation making sense to me right there. Jen seemed to accept it and nodded, rubbing my head, then grimacing.

"You /really/ need a shower." She observed. Light chuckles were shared around the room, and I grimaced, amused.

I was lying in the hospital bed, feeling amazing, having showered and changed out of my disgusting clothes.

My legs were hard-pressed to work, however, and I always ended up back in my bed, rarely making it out of my room.

Jen often brought me food and cigarettes.

"How did you-?" I let the question trail off as I excitedly tore in to the Malboros, reaching for my lighter.

"Remember the first night we met you? You were smoking. You never had one after that, so I figured you ran out." She had figured right.

"Thanks, Jen." I could cry I was so happy. The cigarette immediately relaxed me, soothing my entire body.

"Guess what?" She mumbled, resting her hands on my bedside, her chin on her hands.

"What?" I wondered through the cancer-stick stuck in my mouth, smoke whispering out of my lips like a burning-

Tank.

My thoughts were filled of that massive burning beast as it tossed us aside like stuffed toys, the only thought in its head to kill and kill and-

"Bod? Hey, Bod." Jen waved her hand in front of my face, bringing me back to the present.

"Sorry, space out." I admitted.

"No problem. Anyway, I was saying that it turns out that.. that /she/ was actually working on a cure," Jen began. They had learned that saying her name would send me into a fit of laughter. "And that's why they flew her up here." Jen grimaced. "Too bad she didn't make it." She sighed and said nothing more, wiping away her own tears. "Oh, hey, I got you something else." Jen perked up and handed me my shining Magnum.

"Oh god." I started to giggle the moment my fingers wrapped around it, bringing it close. Then it stung my fingers, like sharp barbs, and I released it on to the bed sheets, yelping.

"What?" Jen jumped.

"I dunno." I hesitantly picked it back up and sighed, staring at my reflection in the shiny chrome. "Too much, maybe…" I whimpered. Jen brought me into a hug. "Thanks." I mumbled into her hair. She pulled away and offered me a small smile.

"You wanna come outside today?" She wondered. I shook my head.

"No, my legs… they-"

"The doctors say your legs are fine." She interjected. "You're just depressed." She explained.

"I wonder why." I murmured. There was a silence between us, not uncomfortable.

"Please?" Jen suddenly clasped her hands together, her lower lip pulling out as she pleaded. "Please come outside with Joey and I, Bod."

"Is that how you get everything?" I wondered. She broke into a huge smile, nodding. "Ok… I'll come out for a little." I muttered, sliding around and slowly getting to my feet.

"Yay! Come on, Bod." She grabbed my hand and guided me down the hall.

"Bod?" I echoed faintly.

"Well, yeah, that is your name, isn't-" Jen stopped and blushed terribly suddenly. "Oh, that… isn't your name, is it… Christopher?" The name sounded strange. Alien.

I hadn't heard it in years, especially not from Jen's mouth.

"No. Bod." I corrected her. She smiled and brought me down the hall again, meeting up with Joey and Harry.

"Look who it is." Joey cracked a grin for me, and Harry merely nodded, smiling without showing his teeth.

"Good to see you, boy." He chided.

"You… too." I nodded and they brought me slowly outside.

I winced at the cold, but to my surprise, there were small children playing in the snow.

I sat at a bench, rubbing my legs and shivering in the cold.

"Snow ball fight!" Joey announced to the children, and they all squealed with joy, grabbing handfuls of snow and tossing them at the twins as they rolled in the snow with the children.

Harry sat with me and sighed.

"How are you?" He wondered as we watched the kids play.

"Good." I lied. Harry, not one to talk, didn't push, merely smiling at the twin's carefree attitude. "Are they orphans?" I wondered. Harry nodded slowly.

"Yeah. Immune." He shook his head slowly. "I mean, really… a kid.. oldest one of them is seven. /Seven/!" He sighed. "Shame, really. Cryin` shame." I said nothing, watching the flurry the kids were creating.

"I…" I exhaled slowly. Harry turned to me, curious. "I wanted kids with her, Harry." I told him. "I wanted to marry her. She… was so close. Then…"

"It takes a man to fight the battle." Harry droned softly. "But it takes a real man to accept defeat." I mulled this over for a while, chewing on my lip and trying to ignore the biting cold.

I reached into my pocket where I had left my pistol, wanting to take it out and stare at it again, but instead I pulled out a tiny piece of paper. I grunted, curious, unfolding it.

It was a note, I realized, my heart beginning to hammer.

From Danielle.

Dear Bod, it read.

If you read this, I assume you've killed me. First off, thanks. It takes guts to do that. You've probably found out about me, too. I'm sorry I had to lie, but it was important. Enclosed is an important formula. Don't try to read it, you might hurt yourself. Just give it to Doctor Gibbles, or whoever else is there. Bod, I don't mean to put pressure on you, but you are literally holding possibly the fate of the world in your hands.

Under the carefully scrawled note was indeed a formula with lots of numbers and squiggly lines. I squinted, but Danny, as usual, had been right. It hurt my head. Under the formula, however, was more writing, English, this time.

And I don't care what other people say. I love a Nobody.

I started to shake, folding the note back up. Harry put a hand on my shoulder. Just that was enough to keep me under control and not burst into laughter, but still shake violently.

"It's alright son, it's alright." He told me. "You're ok. You're safe."


End file.
